BROOKINGS – Chase Vinatieri continues to diversify his resume.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, below, or purchase a new subscription.
Please log in to continue |
BROOKINGS – Chase Vinatieri continues to diversify his resume.
The sophomore kicker from Sioux Falls – nephew of former Jackrabbit All-American and future NFL Hall of Famer Adam Vinatieri – booted the game-winning field goal during No. 6/5 South Dakota State’s 27-24 overtime victory over No. 17/20 Illinois State.
Vinatieri has seen a little bit of everything this season.
He scored a clutch touchdown on a fake field goal during a road win over Montana State and has not shied away from taking down a kick returner. But he has also missed a few PATs along the way.
Now he has a walkoff.
Against the Redbirds, Vinatieri booted a 43-yarder through the uprights to put SDSU (8-2, 5-2) within a win of very likely earning a bye in the first round of the FCS Playoffs.
“That’s my job, that’s what I came here to do,” Vinatieri said. “So I just wanted to execute it. I have to give a lot of credit to (long snapper) Bradey Sorenson and (holder) Brady Hale. They were a part of that as much as I was so their good snap, their good hold is what helped me.”
The gorgeous Saturday in November at Dana. J. Dykhouse Stadium featured what was actually a typical game in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
A grind.
Two big momentum plays highlighted the game, the latter coming when Jackrabbit quarterback Taryn Christion sprinted downfield on a designed keeper on third-and-2. Instead of just picking up first-down yardage, the junior went 84 yards for a touchdown.
That made it 24-17 with 8:13 remaining in the game.
The Redbirds countered with an 11-play, 83-yard drive as James Robinson’s second TD of the game – a 5-yard run – knotted things up at 24-all with 2:14 showing on the clock.
In overtime, ISU’s Sean Slattery pulled a 39-yard field-goal attempt wide left.
And, despite his offense losing a yard on its possession, Vinatieri came through in the bottom portion of OT to seal the deal.
“I’m excited to get a win; I’m excited to get a Missouri Valley Football Conference win,” said SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier, who praised his defense. “I’m really excited about the win against Illinois State – that’s a really good football team. It was a battle, and our guys took the field with confidence every play and we were able to win it in the end so I’m excited about our football team.”
Christion had a hand in all three of SDSU’s touchdowns.
He was 17-of-36 for 172 yards with two TDs and two INTs through the air while running for 110 yards and the long score.
Dallas Goedert’s lone reception was a 33-yard touchdown catch 6 minutes into the game. Robinson evened things up with a 3-yard plunge to paydirt later in the first.
The Jackrabbits appeared to seize momentum after that as Vinatieri connected on a 34-yard field goal and Jacob Brown caught a 6-yard pass in the back of the end zone on third down to make it 17-7 at the 3:58 mark of the second quarter.
ISU redshirt-freshman Christian Uphoff had the answer, fielding the ensuing kickoff 6 yards deep in the end zone and housing it.
“I probably should’ve ‘kneed’ it but I needed to pick up my team, so I took it out,” he said of the 100-yard return. “I saw a hole, I hit it; there was a guy, I made him miss; and then Ty DeForest had a great block and I kept running.”
Slattery’s 30-yard field goal as time expired knotted things up at 17-all at halftime.
Jake Wieneke had five catches for 52 yards for SDSU. Christian Rozeboom totaled 10 tackles, including a sack. Kellen Soulek had a sack and recovered a fumble.
Illinois State (6-4, 4-3) went with its backup quarterback as Malachi Broadnax went 10-of-18 for 102 yards and ran for 63 yards. Robinson picked up 83 yards on 15 carries.
South Dakota State heads to Vermillion to face South Dakota (7-3, 4-3) in the DakotaDome on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Notes (from SDSU Sports Information): The all-time series between SDSU and Illinois State is tied 4-4. ... Saturday’s game marked the first overtime game played at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. ... All-America center Jacob Ohnesorge made his 50th career start, setting a new SDSU mark for consecutive starts by an offensive lineman, which was previously held by Bryan Witzmann (2010-13).
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 27, ILLINOIS STATE 24, OT
ISU (6-4, 4-3) 7 10 0 7 0 – 24
SDSU (8-2, 5-2) 7 10 0 7 3 – 27
First Quarter
SDSU – Dallas Goedert 33 pass from Taryn Christion (Chase Vinatieri kick), 8:55
ISU – James Robinson 3 run (Sean Slattery kick), 3:36
Second Quarter
SDSU – Vinatieri 34 FG, 11:37
SDSU – Jacob Brown 6 pass from Christion (Vinatieri kick), 3:58
ISU – Christian Uphoff 100 kick return (Slattery kick), 3:43
ISU – Slattery 30 FG, :00
Fourth Quarter
SDSU – Christion 84 run (Vinatieri kick), 8:13
ISU – Robinson 5 run (Slattery kick), 2:14
Overtime
SDSU – Vinatieri 43 FG
ISU SDSU
First Downs 19 17
Plays-Yards 65-317 66-361
Rushes-Yards 47-215 30-189
C-A-Int.-Yards 10-18-0-102 17-36-2-172
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 4-15 6-45
Punts-Avg.-I20-TB 6-34.7-2-0 4-41.2-1-0
Kickoffs-Avg.-TB 4-57.0-1 5-62.4-2
Punt Returns-Yards-TD 0-0-0 3-46-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards-TD 3-124-1 3-61-0
Interception Returns-Yards-TD 2-3-0 0-0-0
Fumble Returns-Yards-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards 0 0
Possession Time 32:03 27:57
Third-down Conversions 2-of-11 7-of-11
Fourth-down Conversions 1-of-1 0-of-1
Red Zone Chances-TD-FG 3-2-1 2-1-1
Sacks By-Yards 2-14 4-21
Field Goals 1-for-2 2-for-2
RUSHING: ISU – James Robinson 15-83, Markel Smith 10-63, Malachi Broadnax 19-63, Artiss Henderson 1-7, Spencer Schnell 1-3, Christian Gibbs 1-(-4). SDSU – Taryn Christion 9-110, Brady Mengarelli 11-36, Mikey Daniel 6-31, Cade Johnson 2-8, Dallas Goedert 1-3, Isaac Wallace 1-1.
PASSING: ISU – Malachi Broadnax 10-18-0-102. SDSU – Taryn Christion 17-36-2-172.
RECEIVING: ISU – Christian Gibbs 6-55, Anthony Fowler 2-32, Matt Biegalski 1-12, Spencer Schnell 1-3. SDSU – Jake Wieneke 5-52, Brady Mengarelli 4-21, Cade Johnson 2-35, Dallas Goedert 1-33, Alex Wilde 1-8, Skyler Cavanaugh 1-8, Jacob Brown 1-6, Marquise Lewis 1-5 Isaac Wallace 1-4.
DEFENSE: ISU – Brannon Barry 8 tackles; Adam Conley 5 tackles, INT; Tyree Horton 5 tackles; Bryce Holm 5 tackles; Ty DeForest 5 tackles; Devin Taylor INT; James Graham 2 sacks; DraShane Glass FF; Davontae Harris 4 PBU. SDSU – Christian Rozeboom 10 tackles, sack; Chris Balster 8 tackles; Nick Farina 7 tackles; Dalton Cox 6 tackles; Kellen Soulek 5 tackles, sack, FR; Ryan Earith 5 tackles, 2 sacks, s FF; Logan Backhaus 5 tackles; Jordan Brown 4 tackles.
A – 9,458.